


Mercury Lost to Broken Futures

by dentedsky



Category: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe, Dark, Hojo (Compilation of FFVII) Being An Asshole, M/M, Non-Consensual Drug Use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:00:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24518062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dentedsky/pseuds/dentedsky
Summary: Cloud's eighteenth birthday is in two weeks.  The chance of him Presenting as an alpha are low, so he's hoping for beta; but Zack seems to think he'll be omega.  Their hopes are cautious.
Relationships: Zack Fair/Cloud Strife
Comments: 18
Kudos: 130
Collections: ff7omegaverseweek





	Mercury Lost to Broken Futures

**Author's Note:**

> For Day 4 of ff7omegaverseweek 2020 - packs

Cloud hates Doctor Staley and the expressionless way she had said the words that will destroy Cloud’s future.

He sits alone, head on his knees, in the dusty old armoury that houses the chipped and bent old swords no one wants to take a whetstone to.

Doctor Staley had examined his penis and muttered, “No _styme._ Not an alpha.” Then she had whipped up the ultrasound image from her desk, hummed and said, “A dark area to the left. Possible birth cavity.” She inhaled through her nose and started typing her notes, like she had forgotten Cloud was still in the examination room.

Now, hiding from anyone and everyone, Cloud grips his forearms and let’s angry tears fall. 

No _styme_. That means that it’s likely that in two weeks’ time on his eighteenth birthday, when he Presents, it won't be as an alpha. In the old days, the Presenting ceremony was a huge fanfare, and no one knew what they would be before that time. Now, with modern technology, Shinra scientists could make informed guesses regarding the gender of their underage personnel... and without evidence of his penis being able to knot two weeks before his birthday...

There is always a chance the doctor is wrong... but then she had to go and say he had a possible _birth cavity –_

The door opens slowly, letting in light from the hallway, and Cloud quickly rubs his wet eyes and nose on his sleeve. His panic at the possible intrusion of strangers is short-lived: as soon as Zack steps into the room, Cloud can smell him.

Zack steps up to him and squats to get to Cloud’s level. “Hey buddy,” Zack says, “are you okay?”

Cloud looks up at him, and he knows his face looks a mess, but he nods anyway. 

“You had your examination today, right?” says Zack. Cloud nods again. “Didn't get the result you wanted?”

Cloud shakes his head. He confesses quietly, “She said I’m not an alpha.”

“That's great!” Zack exclaims, his voice too loud in a room that hasn’t had loud voices in years. He’s so perky suddenly, and while his joy is usually contagious, the subject makes Cloud scowl.

“My dream has always been to become a First Class SOLDIER, like Sephiroth,” Cloud bursts out. A part of him knows he sounds childish and petulant, but he's wanted it his whole life, goddammit. “Only alphas are accepted into First Class... I’ve basically gotten the news today that that's never going to happen!”

“Cloud, try to relax.” Zack puts his hand on the back of Cloud's neck gently in an alpha gesture that in some circumstances is considered aggressive, but between two best friends, is calming. “First of all, rules can change. Sure, you can't get into First Class _now_ , but you're still in the infantry, and you've still got time. Maybe by the time you've gotten to Second and gained merits, they'll reconsider the rule, and allow betas in too. And hey! If you're a beta than that’s good for me, ‘cause it means I can have you in my pack! If you Present as an alpha, we can't be in the same pack, so. I mean, we'll always be friends, right? So hang in there!”

Zack always seems to have this magical way of making Cloud feel better. He smiles at him, and concedes that yes, having Zack as his alpha will be a consolation of Presenting as a beta.

Cloud still clings to that dream of being a SOLDIER First Class, of walking into Nibelheim and sweeping Tifa off her feet, of showing the bullies in town what a huge mistake they’d made, underestimating him. He’s thought about what it might mean if he Presents as a beta, of perhaps being in Sephiroth’s pack, and walking into Nibelheim by his side as his Second. Then after meeting Zack, Cloud’s dream had shifted slightly, with Zack Fair, SOLDIER First Class, as his alpha, and it seemed fitting, so the idea stuck.

But…

Zack stands and holds out his hand for Cloud. Cloud takes it, even though he physically does not need help standing on his own.

“Wanna go to the cafeteria?” Zack asks lightly, already turning to the door.

But…

“Zack,” Cloud calls, and Zack looks over his shoulder. It’s hard to see his expression in the dark with only the light from the doorway behind him, but Cloud can imagine his enquiring face. “There was… something else,” Cloud tells him quietly, a catch in his voice, “during my medical exam.”

“The ultrasound,” Zack guesses.

Cloud nods, once. “A… black spot. Could be nothing. Could be...” Cloud exhales shakily. “What if I Present as an omega? I…” Cloud loathes the idea. Not only will he be unable to advance farther than SOLDIER Third Class, he – “Won’t be able to be in your pack.”

Zack makes a strange noise, almost like a dog yelping very quietly in pain, like it’s in distress but doesn’t want the predator in the room to know it. Cloud isn’t a predator, but there’s an emotion between them now, in the dark.

Zack turns half away again, and lowers his chin. “Cloud… I think you need to mentally prepare yourself… for the possibility.”

“No,” Cloud says, shaking his head. “No. Just – hope with me.”

“It’s just – “ Zack rubs his hand through his hair in a sign of nerves and turns to Cloud again, squaring his shoulders in an obvious attempt to be brave. “This past month, you have… it’s not that you ever smelt bad, or anything, you have _always_ smelt good; but, lately? You’ve smelt… you know, very good. But still like you, just – uh, _more_ of you. You know? And betas… betas don’t really smell like _anything,_ but I’m an alpha, and omegas always smell good to me – “

Normally, Cloud likes listening to Zack chatter on and on, but right now, he hates it. Cloud’s heart is clenching like there’s a fist around it, and he can hardly breathe. And now Cloud just wants Zack to:

“Shut up.”

Zack stops talking immediately, body rigid. There’s a couple of beats, and then, unable to resist filling any silence, Zack says, “Just… think on it.”

“Oh don’t worry,” Cloud growls, “it’s all I will think about for the next two weeks.”

Zack deflates. “Cloud – “

“If I’m not going to be an alpha, then I want to at least be in your pack. But if I’m an omega, Shinra are going to parade me in front of a bunch of alphas I don’t want and assign me to some stranger – “

“ _No one_ is going to do that,” Zack growls, fierce suddenly. It makes Cloud pause. “That’s not going to happen because – Ugh, it’s just not. Okay?”

The command in Zack’s voice is enough to keep Cloud quiet. The silence that follows is awkward and tense. Then Cloud lets the conversation go; wallowing in self-pity is exhausting, and anyway, Cloud is hungry and really could use that trip to the cafeteria.

“Let’s leave this dingy room,” says Cloud.

Zack’s whole body slumps in relaxation and he says, “Yes, yes! Please. Food, food is good. _Not_ talking about feelings is also good.”

“Fine,” Cloud says, and follows him out into the well-lit corridor where Cloud can finally see Zack’s face.

He looks… pensive, and tired, but also a little jumpy, like he’s _afraid_ of Cloud, which doesn’t make sense because Zack is a First Class SOLDIER and an alpha, and Cloud is just an underage infantryman. As they walk side-by-side to the cafeteria, Cloud considers that his little outburst and sulk was somewhat selfish, and he hazards, “How was your meeting? Were you nagged into getting more betas again?”

Zack lets out an annoyed huff like, _Meetings, huh? What a drag!_ “Yeah, they are still up my ass about that. But I’m happy with my crew, you know?” Zack only has a small pack that consists of betas Roche, Kunsel, Essai and Sebastian. He’d fought Tseng over getting Cissnei last year, but Tseng had won. “And they keep going on and on about how I need to find an omega and mate them and claim them because an unmated alpha can’t control their claws and anger issues blah blah blah so I need to have an anchor because I’m a liability if something goes wrong blah blah.” He shrugs. “Bureaucracy, amirite?”

Cloud just shrugs at him. They make it to the cafeteria, and Zack offers to get Cloud his tray of food when he gets his own, if Cloud can find them a decent table. When he comes back he offers the tray with a, “You like the strawberry yoghurt, right?” as if Zack hasn’t seen Cloud eat the same kind of yoghurt for years already. But Cloud takes it from Zack’s hand eagerly, and Zack looks pleased when Cloud rips off the top and sticks his spoon in and eats it before his sandwich and chips.

Once Cloud’s had half of his food, he asks, “So why _haven’t_ you picked an omega yet? You’re famous now, with a fan club and everything, surely you’d get pick of the litter.”

“Firstly, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of omegas lately. Secondly, I’m still young! I’ve got time. And thirdly…” He shrugs, and won’t look Cloud in the eye. “I’m just… waiting for the right one.”

Cloud can understand that, especially now that Presenting as an omega may be a very real possibility for him. “I hope I find the right one for me,” Cloud confides. “I don’t want to be… pressured into mating for life with just anyone and they turn out to be a total asshole.”

Zack’s hand shoots out across the table and grabs Cloud’s forearm. The grip is gentle and warm. “That’s not going to happen,” Zack promises.

*

When the time comes he’s taken to a medical suite on the upper levels, with a comfortable cot and an ensuite. The large machine next to the bed is a heat monitor, and Doctor Staley hooks him up to it as he lies down, and she tells him, “If you Present as an omega, this machine will set off an alarm on my PHS, and I will come and give you a dose of suppressant.” The needle itself is on a metal tray on the bench. “I cannot administer it early,” she adds with some regret. “Estimated time of Presentation is five am. I shall return then.”

Cloud lays back and sleeps.

He dreams of Zack, slowly taking his shirt off, a few strands of his hair curled near his neck, a dusting of dark hair on his chest. He dreams of Zack sliding his thick thigh between Cloud’s legs.

The dream is good, and slow, and sweet, like honey. Then it slows too much, and the hot feel of Zack over him and on him is replaced with cold and numbness, like they’re floating in the ocean. Cloud wants the heat back, and the feel of Zack’s hands on him, but Zack is floating slowly away, as if Zack is going to the surface and Cloud is submerging under water.

Cloud reaches out a hand, and Zack reaches too, but they can’t connect, anymore.

 _Wake up,_ he tells himself. _Wake up!_

When he does come to, eventually, he is being dragged along the cold medical floor by two omegas that smell _wrong_. Dysfunctional. Like they’ve had their Bartholin glands forcefully removed. Like they’ve been mated with _machines._ Cloud wants to puke. His head lolls back and he sees Professor Hojo walking ahead, like he’s leading the way. _Where am I, what’s happening, what are you going to do to me?_ he tries to say, but cannot.

They take him to a room full of tanks with naked almost-men inside them, to an examination table with a dissection apparatus above it. Cloud pushes his lethargic limbs into action, ripping himself from one omega and shoving the other omega off him. He screams, and it’s not a man’s scream: it’s an _omega scream_ , the kind that can get an alpha to kneel, or to run to him, or to run away from him. He takes a deep breath and screams again, and this time, it’s Zack’s name.

The omegas cover their ears. Hojo only stares at him, waiting for him to finish.

Someone slams the door open and staggers into the room. It’s Doctor Staley, but she’s moving like she’s drunk, like she wants to crawl on the floor. “Why have you taken my patient?” she demands of Hojo, voice slurring. “Did you – did you _drug_ me? What – “

Hojo pulls out a gun and shoots her through the head, her brains and blood splattering onto the wall and floor. She flops to the ground, still.

Hojo sighs like the whole thing is a nuisance. Cloud is panicking and breathing in hiccupping breaths. The omegas recover and drag him over to the table, and Cloud screams again –

Zack bursts into the room.

He leaps over Staley’s dead body, canine teeth sharp, nails like claws, eyes bleeding into alpha-red. He snatches up Cloud just as his four betas pile in behind him. Roche and Kunsel kill the two omegas with swipes of their swords, and Essai goes after Hojo, only for the AI protecting him to snatch Essai up into a magno-electronic ball.

Zack and Cloud cling to each other. Despite the dire situation, Cloud is hyper-aware of the hot press of Zack’s body, and Cloud suddenly produces so much slick it trickles down his legs.

“ _Fascinating,_ ” Hojo exclaims, as if he is simply looking at some bacteria through a scope. “An alpha-omega pair that are half-mated even before the omega Presents. Very good.”

“Call the other Firsts,” Zack commands of the betas, his voice an alpha-growl. Sebastian shoots the robot holding Essai, and all four betas whip out their PHSs and make calls.

Hojo steps back into a tube, and is elevated up to the next level.

“ _FUCK,_ ” Zack growls. His body is a tense, rigid line, so Cloud smooths a hand down his back and thinks, _relax_ , and Zack does, minutely. He looks down at Cloud with his mako-green-alpha-red-natural-blue eyes.

“I didn’t see it before,” Cloud confesses in a quiet voice. “Zack – you – “

Sephiroth, Genesis, Angeal and Lazard come into the room. “Which way did he go?” Sephiroth demands of Kunsel, and Kunsel points. Sephiroth and Genesis leave the way Hojo had gone, and Angeal tells Zack:

“You should make the Claim now, in case we don’t win this.”

Through his haze, Cloud sees Zack’s eyes flash in anger. “How can we not win this?”

“What Hojo is doing is legal,” Lazard tells him. “He has President Shinra’s approval.”

“Make the Claim now with Lazard as witness, and Hojo won’t want Cloud anymore,” Angeal adds. He turns to Zack’s betas and says, “Roche, Kunsel, with me. Essai, Sebastian, secure the room and protect Lazard, Zack and Cloud. No one comes in or out during the ceremony, understand?”

Zack turns back to Cloud, still held in his arms, and suddenly Cloud’s focus is all on him. “Take me,” Cloud slurs.

Zack frowns, sharp canines pressing against his bottom lip. “You’ve been drugged,” he realises.

“Just make the Claim, Zack,” Cloud tells him. “You told me… I’ll get a good alpha.”

Zack’s shaking his head, his expression crumbling. “Not like this. Not like this.” But even as he whispers the words over and over, his face is moving to Cloud’s neck, mouth pressing there, warm and sure.

Cloud’s head lolls. He looks at the bodies on the floor, at the bodies in the tanks, and the old blood on the dissection apparatus and the new blood congealing on the tiles. 

Then Zack opens his mouth wide and bites him.


End file.
